Developers secure first office tenant at 9+CO project

An oil and gas company will occupy more than half of the office space at a new mixed-use development at the intersection of East Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.

NGL Energy Partners leased 48,000 square feet of office space at 9+CO, the 26-acre urban infill project at the site of the former University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. The tenant signed a lease agreement with codevelopers Continuum Partners and CIM Group. Robert Link of CBRE represented NGL, while Todd Wheeler and Dan Beer of Cushman & Wakefield represented the developers.

The tenant will occupy 75% of the office space, taking the top three floors of the five-story, 64,000-sf, Class A mixed-use building located at Colorado Boulevard and Eighth Place. While Link said the terms of the lease remain confidential, he noted the tenant is under a long-term lease agreement. According to CoStar data, rent ranges from $24 to $29 at the property.

NGL will relocate all operations from its current location at Ptarmigan at Cherry Creek. It occupies three floors there, but its space is not contiguous, Link said.

“Because of our merger and acquisition activity in the last 10 years, our employee base in Denver has grown considerably, outsizing our existing space,” said Audra Hamilton, senior vice president of administration at NGL. “We are excited to have the opportunity to occupy this first-generation space that will both fit our current population’s business needs and provide our employees with retail and restaurant amenities within beautifully designed walkable areas.”

Link agreed that the amenities were a driving factor in the tenant’s decision to relocate to the new development, saying, “Continuum has done a great job at reusing the space and making it something that’s state of the art. The amenities surrounding the office property are just fantastic. In terms of live-work-play, it covers all the bases.”

In the same building as the tenant’s office space, there is 34,575 sf of ground-floor retail with tenants that include CVS, Chase Bank, Bellco Credit Union and Pizzeria Locale.

In addition to that, the office space is within two blocks of other restaurants, including Postino, HopDoddy Burger Bar, Cava Grill, Gelato Boy, Frank & Rose Coffee and Clean Juice. The development also offers an AMC movie theater and multifamily housing.

NGL is the first office tenant secured at the development. It will have approximately 185 employees located in the new office space, plus common meeting space for employees visiting from other corporate and field locations.

According to Link, the tenant plans to occupy its space in late December, when construction on the building is completed.

Featured in the November 18-December 1, 2020, issue of CREJ